The Last Man RealizationsVerse
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: AU - Events during the Alternate Timeline after the AU split of Realization Redux for The Last Man. Mostly angsty with a touch of tragedy and drama. I own nothing but my opinion! Sam/John Pairing with some slight Sam/Jack angst! Fair warning!


The Last Man Realizations Redux-Verse

_A/N: If you're reading this and you haven't read "Realizations Redux" I highly recommend you do as this will make little sense._

_This is a few added scenes, more angst. It seems strangely proper that the moment John/Sam try and make their relationship work all this s*** happens. Also answers questions i had about the alternate timeline and Sam in general. _

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It was wrong, feeling trapped in his arms as she relaxed from their encounter. The soft rising of his chest as she lay with her cheek to his pecs. The way their skin smoothly rubbed as sleep barely evaded them. Even the smell and heat of their encounter made her just melt and want to never leave.

It may have been wrong for Sam to be in John's quarters at 2 in the morning, especially after what they'd just done, but goddamn did it feel right! _"John…"_

The man beneath her, Lt. Col. John Sheppard had just been about to close his eyes for the final time that night when her words woke him. _"Hmm… ughh…"_

His dejected groan was oddly comical to Colonel Samantha Carter, and she moved her head to up nuzzle against his chin. _"Hard to believe you're grumpy after that."_

John groaned again, used one hand to rub his eyes, then pulled Sam's head closer and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. _"I seem to recall you being this grouchy when you woke up the second time on the Jumper."_

With a soft laugh, Sam shifted over and lay next to John with her head on his shoulder. _"That was different. I had a concussion remember?"_

John pulled himself up from his somewhat comfortable position on his back, and rolled over to hug Sam in an intimate position. The sounds coming from him weren't all just annoyance though, and Sam knew what was bothering him.

He'd been reluctant to talk much of it, but the pain that still resided in his body and mind was obvious to her. Over the last month and a half she'd gotten to know John much better than anyone else except perhaps… _"John… we'll find her. You know we will."_

With no words, John simply pulled her close and took deep breaths. Sam understood this to be him controlling his emotions… just as he always did.

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"_Dial the gate, see if you can find out why Colonel Sheppard's taking so long."_

Sam wasn't worried, John had the uncanny ability to make time stretch and she just figured he got caught up with Lorne. Granted an hour late was an hour late, but there was still plenty of time before their 'dinner date' so that worrisome panic was still muted. Chuck nodded and began the dialing procedure. _"Yes Ma-am."_

Sam knew John was still feeling pretty crappy. First Midway, then out of the freaking blue Michael starts to attack the entire galaxy using his souped up Hoffan Drug, and besides that, Teyla's capture had taken a severe toll on John's mental well being. Then just to add insult to injury… Carson Beckett. A man who many considered a long dead friend had come back as a clone.

Sam knew about duplicates, she knew what it was like to have everything one was taken and implanted into another. A clone wasn't the same as a replicator, but she still felt an odd sense of distrust around Carson. It wasn't that she felt he would betray them for Michael… but even Carson said he couldn't shoot him when he needed to.

Their 'affair' had gone from a mutual understanding of the other to a more intimate sharing. Like it or not, Sam had really started to develop feelings for the spiky haired Lt. Col. Each drew comfort from it, and Sam had to admit… despite the situations they were running into, she was happy.

"_Ma-am, we've formed a connection with the gate."_

Chuck's voice was the everpresent foundation of the gateroom. Sam smiled and tapped her headset. _"This is Atlantis calling Colonel Sheppard, Please come in Colonel."_

A few seconds later, Major Lorne's voice transmitted over instead. _"Colonel Carter? Sheppard went back over an hour ago. He's not there?"_

Now that panic was starting to rise, Sam kept her voice calm and in check though. _"No Major… are you sure he dialed Atlantis?"_

Sam could almost see the Major nodding. _"Yes Ma-am, I dialed it myself."_

Her wince was only partially hidden. Something had happened, and now she had to proceed normally… despite wanting to bring the full force of this… her base… her home down on the issue. _"Copy that Major. Remain on the planet until we can survey the situation from our end. Carter out."_ she tapped her headset again switching to a local channel. _"Doctor McKay please come in."_

Rodney's voice came in moments later, his mouth filled with some foodstuffs. _"Yes? I'm kinda busy trying to solve questions the human race will forever be grateful for."_

Sam knew Rodney meant well, but his ego always annoyed her. Since taking over the base she had come to a very strong respect for the man's genius, yet his snark and thinly veiled attempt at supreme confidence always made her grimace ever so slightly. He was still cute as hell though when he dropped the ego. _"Rodney, Colonel Sheppard gated back to Atlantis over an hour ago."_

"_Yes… and? What, does he have some artifact he can't figure out? Big surprise."_

Sam hid the emotion in her voice… John was fine…. John was fine… _"No Rodney, he never made it back. Major Lorne saw him step through the gate after dialing Atlantis… but we never received him."_

A moment's hesitation, and instantly Sam heard the Rodney she'd come to respect and even feel camaraderie with. _"…I'm on my way. Have a tech team waiting for me."_

Sam nodded and motioned to Chuck to call the aforementioned Tech Team. Between her and Rodney, she was confident that no matter what happened, John would still make his dinner date with her.

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Forty eight thousand years.

That's _forty eight thousand years_…

_Four, Eight, Zero, Zero, Zero_.

_48000 _

That's how far away he was… and from what Sam and Rodney could tell… there was no coming back.

It had been months now… months without his wit, months without that boyish grin waiting at her door… and months since they had found Teyla… or rather what was left of her.

Michael had won that battle… and almost all since. All reports were saying that his new hybrids were exactly what he wanted. Smart, Fast, and incredibly strong… yet able to feed on regular foodstuff like humans. With his Wraith science background, his fleet was rapidly growing…

But then again so was Atlantis's._ "Thank you sir. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."_

On the screen, Major General Jack O'Neill scrunched his face in slight confusion. _"Yeah well… 'tween me and Landry we've still got some clout. Just don't expect anymore miracles even though I want to give 'em." _His tone was serious, and his words comforting.

Sam smiled softly and nodded. _"This should be more than enough sir. We need Phoenix here as soon as possible since Daedalus is still being used to ferry supplies and technology between Earth and Atlantis."_

Jack nodded and sighed. _"So… I held up my end. You gonna tell me why you're doing this?"_

With a wince, Sam tried to push her lingering feelings away. Jack still didn't know… and despite feeling he would understand… she wasn't sure what he would do when and if he found out. _"Sir… I'm in charge, this is my command and I'm going to fight to defend it."_

Jack narrowed his eyes, obviously suspicious. _"I'm not talking about that. Don't skirt the issue Carter; you know I hate lateral thinking."_

Sam hid her laugh. Jack always did make her laugh… just like… _"Sir… it's… complicated. Suffice it to say I've given this a great deal of thought."_

Jack growled softly, and he rubbed his chin. _"This is about Sheppard isn't it? Some code of honor you had with him."_

Sam turned her face away from the screen. How could she tell this man who she trusted beyond all others what had happened? How could Samantha Carter tell Jack O'Neill that she had found someone she could love and it wasn't him? How could she put him through this… _again?_ _"…No Sir…"_

A weak sigh, and a rub of his nose and Jack muttered softly. _"Colonel Carter… I had to bust my ass 6 ways from Sunday to get approval for our latest battlecarrier to get shipped off to you half ready, let alone the fact that the IOA is trying to get you replaced with a civilian head and I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to hold them off… You owe me a straight answer and I know it has to do with Sheppard. Just tell me this isn't some crazy suicide mission."_

Sam closed her eyes and decided to get it over with. Jack had a right to know… no one else would have helped her so much. _"It's… it's not Sir. This is my home now… and I won't lie… Sheppard helped… make it home for me."_ Sam hoped that Jack could read between the lines and _please_ stop asking such hard questions.

The old general softened his features… Sam had become easier for him to read over the years, and the look of pain in her face told him everything he needed to know. _"… and to think he fell assbackwards into the Stargate Program… guess he really turned out to be something didn't he?"_

Sam smiled softly, and for the millionth time missed John Sheppard. _"Yeah… yeah he really was… Sir."_

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, and knew that Sam wasn't going to be coming back to the Milky Way any time soon. _"Coming from you… I'd say that's some pretty high praise there."_

With a final breath, Sam nodded and smiled at Jack across the screen. _"He deserved it… and even if… what I mean is… even if he and I… *sigh* I'd still be here sir… I'm not going to let Michael destroy everything we've done here while I sit on the sidelines."_

The General nodded, and he tapped on his console in his office. _"You do know I should bust you back down to Lieutenant… drag you kicking and screaming back here and stick you with administrative duties."_

Sam nodded, and tried to keep her expression impassive despite seeing humor in his words. _"Yeah… I'd put up a hell of a fight." _She drew a long breath through her nose, just trying to conceal the sniffle._ "We…we both knew… and… and I just want to say… I'm sorry sir. I… I'm __really__ sorry… but I don't regret it, I don't regret anything Sir.."_

With a soft smile, Jack scoffed softly. _"Good, because I don't regret anything either… and I'd hate it if you did."_

Sam felt a huge sigh of relief. No one would be coming to take her dignity away; no one would take the last thing she had to do here away from her. _"…Thank you… I… I really appreciate all the help sir."_

Jack smiled with his trademark sly look. _"Only you Carter…" _He smirked with a toothy grin. _"… and maybe Teal'c if he brings me some more of those Jaffa Sweet Cakes."_

Sam couldn't help it, and she laughed softly at Jack's little joke. It seemed that the most important people in her life all understood… they knew what it was like to have to go through life with the Stargate Program in mind. Jack O'Neill understood that Samantha Carter could love someone and it wasn't him… despite all the pain that caused him.

They had tried… but in the end being apart for such a long period of time was too much and despite maintaining the friendship and camaraderie they had, the chance for something else had never really appeared. Jack didn't regret it though, all he really wanted was for Sam to be happy… and from what she showed… Sheppard had done that.

It wasn't long before they shut the feed off. It only ever lasted as long as the intergalactic wormhole was open and it was so rare nowadays that… well everyone who wanted to talk to those back home had to make due. Jack gave Sam a final farewell before shutting his link off.

The woman had improved her taste Jack had to admit. Sheppard was much better than that potato shaped Pete dude from a few years back… Although if Sheppard weren't already declared KIA, Jack would love to kick his ass… or rather order Teal'c to do it, but the principle was the same.

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John was still having trouble believing that he was forty eight thousand years in the future, that Atlantis was still around, and even moreso, that Rodney would still have hair at what he guessed was something like 70 years old. _"…So what happened to Sam?" _He might as well ask, the storm outside wasn't going to pass anytime soon.

Rodney smiled softly, and John could tell right away that the stocky yet almost grandfatherly looking Canadian knew. _"Ahh, I was waiting for you to ask..." _

Holo-Rodney's smile cracked at the edges, and John winced as he somehow felt emotion from the hologram. _"So... she told you."_

Holo-Rodney nodded, and he bit his lip in the most believable human movement. _"Yeah... About a year after you went missing."_

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_"What? Why?"_ Rodney just couldn't believe what Sam was saying. Phoenix was the newest craft Earth had built, and now she was going to take it guns blazing across the galaxy?

Sam kept her face expressionless, the wound still hurt, it still felt raw despite such a long time to heal. _"Rodney... Thank you for helping me with this. Colonel Lorne is in charge until I come back..."_ she paused for a moment. _"...please don't make this harder than it has to be."_

Rodney was just too curious, too worried for his friend to just walk away while she rode Phoenix face first into Michaels storm. _"I just... Why are you doing this Sam?"_

Sam sighed heavily, jack had asked her the same question when she told him what she had planned. _"Rodney... I... It's complicated..." _Rodney still didn't catch on. How could he? She'd had only about a month and a half with John before he vanished into the future. _"Rodney..."_ Sam bit her lip and decided to tell him... He had been John's best friend and he'd never had the chance to find out naturally about their relationship. _"I... I mean we… Before... John got caught in that wormhole accident..."_

Rodney blinked, still trying to comprehend. _"Yes? Before...?"_ finally, seeing Sam's rather depressed looking face, realized that she'd lost more than just her second in command that day... _"Wait... You mean... You mean you and him...?"_

Sam nodded softly, and sighed as she looked away. _"Yeah... You uhh... You remember the jumper accident me and John had?"_

Rodney's eyes went wide, and he recalled how John and Sam were awkward around each other for a few days after. Now that he knew why, he felt an odd sense of hurt that John hadn't told him, but even more, he could see the pain in Sam's eyes at having to remember. _"So... You two... Wow... Wasn't that against...?"_

Sam nodded already knowing. _"Yeah... We uhh... We didn't come to it easily."_ she looked away again, remembering how it had felt so good to finally do what her heart wanted and not what some fraternization rules might say.

But John was gone, and Sam heart had finally shattered. There was nothing left for her amongst normal life... Jack was still back in the Milky Way and now it felt like she was betraying both of them... She'd finally gotten past her infatuation with Jack... But she still loved him... Still wanted him... Just... she knew it would hurt too much to leave this galaxy the way it was, she knew John would have never given up. And she knew Jack would understand when she told him... And he did.

That hurt the most. Jack had understood why she fell in love with John. _"Wait... Weren't you and… General O'Neill...?"_

Sam shook her head, and gulped. _"I'm not doing this for John. Even if he and I didn't… I'd still be here Rodney. I need you to understand that. No matter what my… relationship with John was this is my home now and I'm not giving it to Michael without one hell of a fight."_

Rodney realized just how hurt Sam must have been for the past year as Michael slowly took over the galaxy. In fact, he understood it plainly as it was the same pain in his heart. _"I... I don't know what to say Sam."_

Sam smiled, Rodney had become such a good friend. It felt right to tell him what only her most trusted friends knew. _"Just say you're welcome Rodney."_

Rodney again blinked in confusion. _"For what?"_

Sam smiled once more, and she leaned forward. _"For being such a good friend."_ with the gentlest touch, Sam kissed Rodney on the cheek... An unknown farewell.

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_"Wait…wait just a damned second... what happened to her?!"_

Holo-Rodney sighed, it hadn't been easy to watch all his friends fall before him. _"She... She died... About 4 months after she started fighting Michael on the Phoenix. He set a trap for her and…"_

John fought his wince, it had been bad thinking how Sam must have felt when he just vanished through the gate. The thought that she had died... Honoring him... He had to make it back.

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He knows where Teyla is... His first words out of the gate... Not even the steam off his skin has finished evaporating... But she can see it in his eyes... The way those pained, surprisingly emotional eyes can say all the words he... They… found so hard to say.

And now the man was in the isolation room. Pacing furiously. Sam made sure Keller turned off the cameras before she went in. John instantly looked to her and raised his hands in ire._ "We don't have time for this!"_

Sam needed control, she needed calm. Emotions might run high but she was still the Base Commander. _"John, there are procedures we have to follow. You know that."__  
_  
John pointed at the bandage where Dr Keller had taken a blood sample. _"I am __not__ a clone. Is that what you're worried about? I'm still the same man that walked through that gate 12 days ago!"__  
_  
Sam looked away, the thought had occurred to her. Especially since Carson Beckett was just a few rooms away in a stasis chamber. _"No, your medical came back clean, telomeres and all, but there are other things we need to discuss. I mean, you have to admit: this is a pretty wild story, even for __this__ place."__  
_  
John was still furious. _"But that's my whole point! How could I make this up?__"_

_  
_Sam heard a blip in her headset, held up her hand to John, then answered as she patched Rodney into the com on the wall. _"This is Carter. Rodney is that you?"_

Rodney seemed unbelievably happy as he recounted his findings. _"Sam! Believe it or not, I found it! It was in the sensor log! It's a solar flare capable of interfering with the wormhole from M4S-587 at exactly the moment that Lorne says he dialed."__  
_  
Sam scrunched her brow, she had first hand experience with Solar Flares and Wormholes and spoke before she thought. _"Well, why didn't the Gate's failsafe prevent the wormhole from locking?"__  
_  
John groaned softly and muttered. _"Come on Sam… it's me… John."_

Sam smiled back to him, She _wanted_ to believe it was him. But time and time again she'd been disappointed in life… Sam just hoped John understood.

Rodney's voice came in sheepishly. _"Umm, well, we've had a number of glitches since we, uh, last updated the operating system."__  
_  
John kept his voice just a few notches below condescending. _"Oh, that's what you call a "glitch," huh?!"__  
_  
Rodney's voice came back slightly hurt, but mostly indignant. _"Yes, well, you should know that, uh, I'll be giving Zelenka a stern talking to."__  
_

John turned to Sam and made a motion with his head. _"__Can we go now?"_

Sam sighed heavily, this kind of situation was exactly what she wanted to avoid. _"Dammit John. You've been missing for 12 days, I… I thought you were gone." _

John thought about what Holo-Rodney had told him… and he decided that at this moment, actions would speak volumes more than words. _"So did I…and if you need anymore proof it's me."_

Sam wasn't expecting it, especially in the middle of the Isolation Room, she had never been so glad as to have shut the cameras off as she was sure Jennifer would be laughing her ass off. Nobody was around, John had come here only to prove himself and to go all by his lonesome if needed. With a deft move he quickly took Sam's face in his hand and planted his lips hard on hers.

John pulled her in as close as he could, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her in a hug so hard it almost hurt. Sam reacted the only way she could... she kissed him back.

He broke the kiss off abruptly, and stared at her with a strong look. _"This is Teyla… I'm going."_

And Sam realized that it was the sheer force of will that John had that first attracted her. To deny him that would… well it would betray everything they felt. With a gulp of her throat, Sam replied. _"Take Lorne's team… you'll need backup."_

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_A/N: This answers a question I've had for awhile. Why did Sam stay in Pegasus to fight Michael despite the terrible odds? This is why Season 5 and her getting replaced by Woolsey is such a crock in my thinking. Yes yes… I know AT left because of Sanctuary, but I honestly think that she would have stayed and become a much more central figure like Weir was given time if it weren't a TV show. Even if you ignore the John/Sam Shippyness, there's still the fact that Sam stayed in the canon U, and it's hinted to quite strongly in this AU._

_Things like this annoy me… argh! _

_I'm thinking of writing 2 more stories in this "verse" A Search and Rescue rewrite, as well as a more political and legal oriented one with Sam's fight to go back to Atlantis. I wouldn't expect either in a while though._


End file.
